Paper Stories: A Snip and Glue Activity Book by. Aya Watanabe | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Paper Stories – A Snip and Glue Activity Book

Author: Aya Watanabe

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages:

Publication Date: 4/17/23

Book Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Categories: Children’s Fiction, Activity Book

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

his giraffe needs spots! The pizza needs toppings! It’s a snip and glue activity book perfect for little hands just learning to use scissors and glue. Grab scissors, cut on the dotted lines, paste or glue on the bite-size cut-outs, and voilà!

This bright, fun activity book is perfect for young crafty kids who love to create, copy, or just make things. Each spread features an incomplete scene—such as a garden that needs butterflies, giraffes missing spots, and pizza that needs toppings—plus a strip of colorful spot illustrations and shapes marked with dotted lines for cutting. Children can cut along the lines and paste the cutouts wherever they like in the scene to create their own illustrated stories. They can also try cutting closer to the image—without the dotted lines—and be more faithful to the shapes! An activity book will help kids develop fine motor skills and inspire them to create art from what they have on hand.

What a fun activity with lots of things kids can do to help work on their motor skills such as cutting and pasting. I love the colorful art and how it encourages children to help finish the picture. This will definitely help them with expressing their creativity in a fun way.

The Baby and Me by. Christianne Jones | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Baby and Me

Author: Christianne Jones

Illustrator: Fuuji Takashi

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages:

Publication Date: 12/31/22

Book Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Categories: Children’s Fiction, Picture Book, New Baby, New Sibling

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Celebrate what it means to be an older sibling with this joyful and colorful board book! Watch as an older sibling’s funny faces make the baby laugh. Look on as tummy time becomes a sweet way to connect with the new baby. Enjoy the many ways love is shown in The Baby and Me.

Interest level: Grades Pre K-Pre K Reading level: Grades Pre K-Pre K

This is the type of book I would have read my son before his sister came along. I love the rhyming and also the diversity of siblings in the book is wonderful! It has wonderful illustrations and lots of fun colors. This is the perfect book to read to a child who will soon become a sibling.

Waiting on Mr. Sloth by. Katy Hudson | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Waiting on Mr. Sloth

Author: Katy Hudson

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 33

Publication Date: 12/31/22

Book Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Categories: Children’s Fiction, Picture Book, Patience, Dealing with Anger

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

The sun is out. The temperature is hot. And Sasha has everything packed and ready for a full day of swimming! But Mr. Sloth is taking for-eh-ver! Sasha does NOT like to wait. However, her best friend is never in a hurry. Will Sasha learn to be patient, or will her quick temper ruin a memorable summer outing?

Katy was raised in Middlesbrough and started her Illustration career as a small child drawing on freshly emulsioned walls around the house! Her parents quickly dissuaded this medium and encouraged drawing with pencil and paper instead.

The idea stuck (the pencil was updated to an ink pot and pen in some cases) and after some lovely time at Art College and a degree in Illustration. She is now a freelance Illustrator living and working in South London with her husband and little daughter.

I love the message of this book so much. Sasha wants to go swimming and but her pet sloth is very slow and her patience wears thin by the time they get to the lake to go swimming. But she learns some ways to deal with her emotions, but breathing in and out. I love that lesson because it’s so frequent that young children who can’t quite express all their emotions end up throwing a tantrum. But giving a way for them to handle their emotions like deep breathing is really great. The illustrations are beautiful and the sloth is super cute. My kids love sloths so they also love this book.

Minecraft: Mob Squad: Don’t Fear the Creeper | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Minecraft: Mob Squad: Don’t Fear the Creeper

Author: Delilah S. Dawson

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 272

Publication Date: 11/1/22

Categories: Minecraft, Adventure, Young Readers

Book Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

The Mob Squad must outwit a mysterious new enemy as they journey across the Overworld of Minecraft in this official novel!

The Mob Squad are the greatest heroes the town of Cornucopia has produced since it was founded: Mal the bold, Lenna the strong, Tok the wise, and Chug the steadfast. And Jarro, who’s renounced his bullying ways to reveal a truly kind heart. Together they’ve journeyed across the Overworld, delved into the Nether, and saved the day for Cornucopia again and again.

So why can’t they get any respect from the adults who run the town? The only one who understands is Nan, Mal’s great-great-great-grandmother, who trained them to be as resourceful and adventurous as she was in her day.

So when Nan gets sick and isn’t getting any better, the kids refuse to just sit by and do nothing. There’s something out there that can help her–an enchanted golden apple that can cure just about anything. And the Mob Squad will stop at nothing to get it.

But as they venture outside the walls of Cornucopia, they aren’t counting on being followed. The kids soon discover a mysterious foe whose motives are as unknown as the face they hide behind a creeper’s head. If the Mob Squad wants to rescue Nan, they’re going to have to save themselves first.

Both my kids love Minecraft, but this is perfect for my 10 year old son who has been trying to find Minecraft books to read. I am not very familiar with everything Minecraft but I think this is something my son would love. It’s got adventure, the lovable Minecraft animals and it’s a great book for young Minecraft fans.

Ten Apples Up on Top by. Dr. Seuss | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Ten Apples Up on Top

Author: Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg (Pseudonym)

Illustrator: Roy McKie (Illustrator)

Format: hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 62

Publication Date:12/31/60

Categories: Children’s Fiction, Picture Book, Animals, Counting

Learning to count has never been more fun than in this crazy tale of a dog, a lion and a tiger all showing off how many apples they can balance on their heads as they skip, walk the tightrope and roller skate their way through the book.

This delightful book forms part of the second stage in HarperCollins’ major Dr. Seuss rebrand programme. With the relaunch of 10 more titles in August 2003, such all-time favourites as How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? and Dr. Seuss’ Sleep Book boast bright new covers that incorporate much needed guidance on reading levels: Blue Back Books are for parents to share with young children, Green Back Books are for budding readers to tackle on their own, and Yellow Back Books are for older, more fluent readers to enjoy. Ten Apples Up On Top belongs to the Green Back Book range.

My daughter chose this at her school library but this isn’t the first time she has borrowed it. The first time we borrowed it, I read it to her. Now she can read it herself, even tough it’s a pretty long book at 62 pages. She loves this book! In classic Dr. Seuss style, the rhyming is fun, and in this one she gets to count. I really should have this one on our bookshelf but that’s okay if she keeps borrowing it as well. It’s a wonderful book!

Goodnight, Little Monster by. Helen Ketteman | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Goodnight, Little Monster

Author: Helen Ketteman

Illustrator: Bonnie Leick

Format: eBook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 32

Publication Date:4/12/12

Categories: Children’s Fiction, Picture Book, Bed Time, Monsters

Little Monster needs to get ready for bed. That means howling at the moon, scrubbing his scales, getting into his creepy PJs, and enjoying a nice snack before bed: worm juice and baked beetle bread. And, of course, Little Monster’s mother is nearby to tuck Little Monster into bed and turn on his night-light—because even little monsters can be afraid of the dark. Bonnie Leick’s soft, child-friendly illustrations rendered in watercolor bring a new and quiet twist to the evening’s bedtime ritual. Sweet dreams, Little Monster!

I found this one on Kindle Unlimited and thought it would be a cute Halloween-ish book to read to her. It’s about a monster going to bed and I thought it was so cute how his mom tells him there are no humans under the bed to scare him. My daughter and I loved this story and the illustrations are great too!

No Reading Allowed: The Worst Read-Aloud Book Ever** by. Raj Haldar & Chris Carpenter | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: No Reading Allowed: The Worst Read-Aloud Book Ever**

Author: Raj Haldar & Chris Carpenter

Illustrator: Bryce Gladfelter

Format: eBook (epic app)

Pages:

Publication Date:11/9/20

Categories: Children’s Fiction, Picture Book, Animals

From the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling authors of P IS FOR PTERODACTYL comes another hilarious, fresh look at the English language!

The hero had super vision.
The hero had supervision.

Man, a tea sounds great.
Manatee sounds great!

Sir Francis Bacon
Sir, France is bakin’!

What is going on here?!
You can’t believe everything you hear! A single word can have many different meanings. And sometimes two words that sound alike can be spelled completely differently. Ptolemy the pterodactyl is back to show us all how absurd and fun language can be when homophones, homonyms, and tricky punctuation are at play!

No Reading Allowed allows children and their parents to laugh together while also learning something new. Perfect for baby gifts, birthday gifts, teacher gifts, and anyone who finds humor in the absurdity of the English language.

My daughter read picked this book on the Epic! app even though I thought it was for older kids, she insisted. So I did help her read it and had to explain to her the homophones and homonyms – she did find a few of them funny. I thought they were funny and my 10 year old son would probably have enjoyed it more.

WWW Wednesday | 10/26/22

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

What are you currently reading?

• 

What have you just finished reading?

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

What are you going to read next?

Whatever my daughter chooses to read.

What have you read lately?

~ Yolanda

That’s (Not) Mine by. Anna Kang | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: That’s (Not) Mine [You Are (Not) Small, #2]

Author: Anna Kang

Illustrator: Christopher Weyant

Format: eBook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 32

Publication Date: 8/31/15

Categories: Children’s Fiction, Picture Book, Animals

Two fuzzy creatures both want to sit in the same comfy chair. The trouble is, they can’t agree who it belongs to. They get madder and madder, until…

With expressive illustrations and simple text, this giggle-inducing tale about (not) sharing and (not) being a good friend features the endearing characters from Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner You Are (Not) Small.

My daughter read the first book in the series, and when she saw this on the Epic app on her ipad she chose to read it. It’s easy for her to read (she’s 5) and we thought the situation the bears were in reminded of her and her brother fighting for the recliner chair in our living room. So she could totally relate to this book and we thought that was funny! It’s a great lesson for kids that fight over things.

I Love the Mountains by. Haily Meyers | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: I Love the Mountains

Author: Haily Meyers

Format: eBook (epic app)

Pages: 32

Publication Date: 3/16/20

Categories: Children’s Fiction, Picture Book

Boom-dee-ah-da, Boom-dee-ah-da, Boom boom boom!

I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills,

I love the flowers, I love the daffodils,

I love the fireside, when all the lights are low,

Boom-dee-ah-da, Boom-dee-ah-da,

Boom-dee-ah-da, Boom-dee-ah-da…

Take a walk in the mountains and sing this rollicking song, whether for you it’s a beloved campfire tradition or a brand new rhyme. Little ones will love the bouncing melody and the Meyers’ adorable illustrations, and parents will love the nostalgia of simpler times and summer camp songs.

I totally love the illustrations and my daughter thought the way it read like a song was cute. I’d say we both enjoyed this book even though we didn’t know how the song went.